Travel back in time with the Timelooper app

Next time you're having a casual wander through the city, why not find out how terrifying it was walking around during, say, the Blitz? 'But that was 70-odd years ago,' you're thinking. Indeed it was, reader, indeed it was. But you can travel back in time with this new app Timelooper, which will show you a 360º virtual reality view of Trafalgar Square during WWII when the Germans were blasting our fair city to smithereens. Or you can witness the Great Fire tearing through the area around St Paul's during 1666 and pop to the Tower of London to experience the Medieval era.
To get in on the action, simply download the free app and whip it out when you're in the location to discover all kinds of fascinating historical facts and sights. And should you want to leave London (heaven forbid) for any reason, then you can also utilise Timelooper in Turkey, with forthcoming plans to conquer Rome, New York City, Berlin, Paris and China.
Get app happy with these other technological wonders:
Wiretapper: the app that brings immersive theatre to your phone
Explore London's abandoned tube stations with the Disused Tube app
Eight great fashion apps

Nine nostalgic pop-ups that will, inevitably, open in London

1) Encarta MindMaze... LIVE!
Photo: Giantbomb
Recreate the giddy thrill of Microsoft's encyclopaedia 'edutainment' product from 1995! Travel through a series of rooms and answer random trivia questions from jesters, handmaidens and more. Make it through and cocktails and artisan pizza await you in the Throne Room. Hampton Court, Jan 2016. £49.
2) Pop-up Market: Innovations Special
Pick up handcrafted useless inventions from London's independent producers. Always starts exactly on time due to their clocks synchronising to a global radio signal. Truman Brewery. Entry free with any copy of the Sunday Times.
3) That creepy kids' game show, you remember the one, there was like an alphabet soup? And... it's on the tip of my tongue, I swear to God.
It was on... was it CBBC? And there was like a robot guy... like a famous guy! Was that Philip Schofield or something? Come on – you know the one I mean though, right? God, this is killing me. Anyway, all that stuff you sort-of remember from it (a lift! there was definitely a bit in a lift!) will be there. In a tall building of some sort, I think? Sometime soon.
4) Pogs World Series

A blagger's guide: how to get free stuff in London

Who says nothing comes for free anymore? Here are four things to do in London that won't cost you a penny.
HAIRCUT
Too skint to have your shaggy barnet sheared? Fear not: several London salons offer free haircuts in specified slots each week (check out Hari’s, Stuart Philips, Radio Hair Salon or Windle & Moodie). Granted, you’ll be a guinea pig for a scissor-wielding young apprentice – but crap-haired beggars can’t be choosers.
BOOZE AND CANAPES
Take the ‘Wedding Crashers’ model and apply it to other events – talks, conferences, gallery private views etc – and you have what is known as ‘ligging’. This very modern pastime can net you a sackful of booze and food any night of the week. Check out the day’s events on Eventbrite and away you blag.
COFFEE
Payday still an agonising week away? Don’t worry, there is another way to get your caffeine hit. Pret is famous for giving out free coffee to customers of its choosing (boost your chance with subtle flirting). And you can enjoy a free espresso at any Nespresso shop: they each have a coffee bar where you can try the different pods.
FANCY FOOD
Ahh, the old ‘free sample’ racket. The markets are an obvious choice, but why not rub shoulders with the elite in the food halls of Harrods and Fortnum & Mason? You don’t need to be an oligarch to feast on the delicious meat, cheese and other sumptuous samples.
By Dan Frost
Feeling frugal? Find more free things to do in London.

London totally stinks and these 'smell maps' prove it

Out of all of our senses - sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, clairvoyance - which is the most under-appreciated? The answer, clearly, is smell. Now four researchers have taken it upon themselves to address this by creating an amazing 'smell map' of London. 'What the hell' is a 'smell map?' we hear you sniff. Well, let us tell you: it's a map of London's smells. Daniele Quercia, Luca Maria Aiello, Rossano Schifanella and Kate McLean compiled the map by scouring social media for smell-related words used about specific places in London. They matched each word to a colour using an 'aroma wheel' [above], then plotted the colours on to the streets of the capital. The resulting olfactory pictures beautifully map out all the odours that Londoners are smelling and talking about. Take a deep breath...
Animals
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This map highlights all the bits of the city that smell like animals. So, obviously, London Zoo is pretty prominent up there by Regent's Park. But dots appear all over the city - maybe what they're smelling is party animals? We all get that pungent party musk.
Emissions
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Top five worst things about the suburbs

1. No stand-on-the-right rule
Never step on to an escalator in a Home Counties M&S. They are lawless places where parents block the way with shopping bags and offspring, hellish battlefields where ladies-who-lunch stand on both the left and the right, dog-eat-dog arenas where lad-dads push pensioners aside to get to the four-for-a-tenner picnic items first. 'STAND ON THE RIGHT!' you'll scream in your head – but it's not their fault: that golden rule means nothing here. They simply don't understand how life works.
2. Talking to strangers
Everyone in central London is trying to get from A to B in the shortest possible time. Why pause to chat to an unknown person on your way? You're never going to see them again and, let's be real, neither of you cares whether the other is having a nice life. You might exclaim 'Lovely day, isn't it!' But are you really interested in their garden, how their kids are doing or the intricacies of year 5 classroom politics? No. By conversing any further, all you've done is add an extra three minutes of awkwardness to your day.
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3. Car chat
The closest Londoners come to car chat is moaning about the latest Uber price surge. Non-Londoners, on the other hand, will talk about

Homerton, the final frontier for gentrification in Hackney, boasts bars, food and culture.
Why go there?
Because it's the last place you can go to in Hackney where you can sip on a craft beer and legitimately refer to the area as 'gritty'.
What's the vibe?
Designer outlets attract those who usually wouldn't venture this far into darkest east London, while the local music studios are making sure the hipsters stay put. The White Stripes recorded 'Elephant' at Glyn Road's Toe Rag Studios, and Sound Savers on Sedgwick Street has brought in acts including Sauna Youth, Mazes and, rumour has it, The Ordinary Boys.
Designer shopping in one of London's poorest boroughs, eh?
Yeah, yeah, we know, but you can certainly drop some cash while you're in Homerton. On Chatham Place and Morning Lane you'll find Aquascutum, Burberry, Pringle and Anya Hindmarch outlets, all with significant discounts.
Hatch
So it's on the up. Does that mean I can get a flat white?
Of course. Hatch (Mackintosh Lane) has workspaces and various pop-up food ventures to try in addition to its drinks. Caffeine connoisseurs should go to The Wash in Well Street, which sells a variety of artisanal roasts as well as the paraphernalia to make the perfect cuppa at home.
Where is there to eat?
Well Street Kitchen (Well Street) is a fancy caff with a menu that includes bacon baps alongside smashed avocados on toast. Eat 17 (Brooksby's Walk) – above the newly trendified Spar supermarket – is Grace Dent- approv

Overheard in London: this week’s #wordonthestreet

Every week you share the weird things you’ve overheard in London. Above, a few perplexing snippets from the past seven days – don’t forget to tweet us your own!
Like Word on the Street? We’ve now made a book of these little beauties! ‘Word on the Street: Ridiculous Things We’ve Overheard in London’ is out now, £6.99. To buy a copy, visit timeout.com/wotsbook​.

Top five worst things in parks

If you're heading to the park this weekend, beware of untethered children running around covered in ice cream and even worse, the obnoxious Red Stripe louts.
1. Untethered children
Yes, they're too young to know better, but that's exactly why we ask all parents: please, please, in the name of God, please - keep them close to hand. They invariably escape their three-wheeled prisons and invade our picnics - screeching, butt-naked, with outstretched hands covered in the dripping remains of (what we hope is) chocolate ice cream. The taramasalata is ruined!
2. Noise pollution
Nothing ruins your love for technology like sitting in a park near someone who owns portable speakers. The whole reason you’ve come here is to escape the neighbours who have Jessie J on at full blast. Now, thanks to these 100-decibel monstrosities, gone are the days when you could retreat to one of London’s green havens safe in the knowledge you wouldn’t have your ears carpet-bombed with someone else’s idea of bangin' choons. Not only that - they’re streaming Spotify and won’t cough up for Premium.
3. Rogue barbecues
The fact that there aren’t many parks and open spaces around London where barbecues are permitted is a great injustice, you may argue

Top of the world: the best rooftop restaurants in London

Get closer to the sun at one of these rooftop restaurants.
South: OXO Tower Brasserie
The outdoor terrace of the eighth floor of the Oxo Tower has river-spanning views and a Modern European menu.
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House St, SE1 9PH. Nearest tube: Waterloo.
North: The Grafton
A revamped Kentish Town pub with good roof terrace.
20 Prince of Wales Rd, NW5 3LG. Nearest tube: Kentish Town.
East: Coq d'Argent
The expansive and verdant roof garden squeezed amid City skyscrapers also serves good French-leaning food from D&D London.
No 1 Poultry, EC2R 8EJ. Nearest tube: Bank.
Central: The Angler
D&D London’s swanky City restaurant offers the best in alfresco altitude.
South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, EC2M 2AF. Nearest tube: Moorgate.
West: Babylon
This seventh-floor rooftop will sweep you off your feet. The gardens are the real draw.
The Roof Gardens, 99 Kensington High St, W8 5SA. Nearest tube: High St Kensington.
Take a look at the best new restaurants in London.
Want tp get up high? Here's the summer's best rooftop pop-ups!

Map: see the boroughs in London with the worst food hygiene

A little while ago we revealed the six London boroughs that have the most establishments with below-par food hygiene scores. Now, an infographic genius has laid all that data out on a lovely map.
Using data from the Food Hygiene Agency, the graphic reveals how hygiene in schools, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and pubs rates on a scale from one to five (one = bad, five = good). You search by type of establishment and hygiene score to find out how many establishments got that mark in each borough. For example, we found out that Barnet has the most five-star hospitals for food hygiene. Neat.
A score of two or less means that an establishment is sub-satisfactory. The map reveals that 107 hospitals and 92 schools from across the city fell in that bracket. Plus, 25 percent of restaurants and 11 percent of pubs and bars.
Find out more at caelumcontracts.com.

Watch the 'Race the Tube' guys attempt a relay race against the DLR

First they took on the Circle line, then the Thames Clipper and now the 'Race the Tube' guys are trying to beat the DLR in a relay race, because why the heck not?
Back in September last year, athletes James Heptonstall and Noel Carroll successfully beat the tube on foot and since then, they've been donning their running shoes to race pretty much anything – they even ventured across the pond to take on the New York subway. Now, they're back in London and they've called in extra forces from more freakishly fit people – ultra marathon runner Rob Bell and England touch rugby player Will Serocold – to tackle a 1,500-metre relay race against the DLR.
Spoiler alert: in their first attempt, the DLR had the edge by a frustratingly close 20 seconds. But not wanting to be defeated by a driverless train, they got back out there and did it again straight away. If at first you don't succeed and all that. But did they do it? Damn right they did.
Watch their first attempt here:
Aaaand here's where they actually did it:
Want to take on your own tube challenge? Take a look at the ten most pleasantly surprising pubs on the London Tube Pub Challenge.

Quit your job, become a… braider

Joel Benjamin, 29, freelance hairstylist and braider explains how he got into the braiding business
How did you make the braid? I mean, grade.
'I met a guy at a house party who worked for Cut, a cult hair salon in Soho that's been around since the '80s - Boy George and lots of famous people went there. Cut [subsequently rechristened We Are Cuts] offered me a job and that's where I first trained. I worked there for three years.'
Sounds like a fun place to work. Why did you move on?
'I wanted to pursue styling rather than cutting. It's more creative. So I went to the Aveda Institute in Holborn. It was more corporate than Cuts! Then I got a job as an assistant with [world-famous hairdresser] Johnnie Sapong. By industry standards that was a big break, but being a permanent assistant isn't really my thing. I have a bit of an ego!'
Okay, so you love yourself. Do you love your job?
'I like the freedom it gives me to do what I want, when I want. I get to create hairstyles that make people look and feel good, and I get paid quite well for what I do. I also get to venture into different parts of London and see different things. It doesn't feel like work.'
You specialise in braiding, right?
'Yeah, I descr

This alternative tube map shows how many calories you burn walking between stations

Click here for the full-sized map
Some people can manage to hit up a 6am spin class and whizz up an Instagram-worthy green smoothie before we've even had a chance to hit snooze on our alarm. To those people, we say: good for you. But for us mere mortals, getting off the tube a couple of stops early seems like a much more civilised way to squeeze in a vague attempt at exercise before work. And now you can quantify your efforts with this handy map, which shows how many calories you could burn by walking between stations instead of taking the tube.
The alternative tube map was created by online pharmacy Treated.com and GP Wayne Osborne, who says that once you get into central London, most stations are about two minutes apart on tube or 10-15 minutes on foot. So while you might not fancy tackling your entire commute on foot, once you get into Zone 1 it's probably worth getting off a couple of stops early. Even if you couldn't care less about calories, at least you'll be able to escape from being awkwardly